Beanie level: Eunuch in drag

episode 7 of r88 really may just be my favorite episode ever— to me, it has the perfect balance of humor, romance (for BOTH TEAMS TOO, maybe one more than another but it’s my team so i’m happy ◡̈), friendship moments, and warm family moments. also, watching the show with the original OST is INFINITELY better, usually on the bus ride with DS and JH, cho ha moon’s “this night once again” plays, but i love wham’s “last christmas” so much, and it’ll forever remind me of junghwan now ◡̈

i think the opening scene to the episode when the gang and noeul, jungbong and bora are deciding the secret santa game is just PERFECT! it’s so well choreographed, everything is on beat, from the dialogue to the looks across the room, and i’ll never get over the fact that this is a TV SHOW BECAUSE OF HOW REALISTIC THIS IS!!!

i will also admit that taek is the cutest kid ever, i’m getting mad by how much i like him this rewatch. nobody compares to my KING, but UGH, why is taek so cute??

speaking of someone, i’m pretty sure that this episode carved my love for junghwan in stone. come ON, look how adorably awkward he gets around deoksun, and how much he smirks when she cursed out sunwoo HAHAHA. i’m gonna stop talking about him rn bc if i continue, well, this post will just be 1000 characters longer. plus, i plan to have a post dedicated to him after ep 10 anyway ◡̈

i’ve rewatched ep 7 so many times, but really for the JH and DS scenes, which means i forgot how touching taek’s relationship with his father is. in the end, it really is the friends and family relationships that make this show incredible, from the pink mittens scene, to the whole snowman fiasco, to of course, singing shin hae chul with your friends (side note: to you ended up being #5 on my Spotify Wrapped 2020 LMAO)

if anyone ever wants to rewatch an r88 episode, THIS IS THE ONE! it’s pretty perfect for this upcoming holiday season too!

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    Do you have a blog shachi?

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    @arohauaena this is the place to be on DB for a die hard fan of Reply 1988. I come in here with a drink and settle down to read a few episode reviews at a time. Hopefully if you have not been here already this will be a link you can come to regularly too. I regularly lose my way trying to find posts on the Dramabeans site so I am hoping this will work for you. I will try to find another way too.

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#2020roundup
day 2: FL you will never forget
torn between jo yiseo (itaewon class) and ko moon young (IOTNBO), i’ll review the both of them ◡̈

both of them are super badass, unconventional female leads who i LITERALLY want to be because of how confident they are!!! they are maybe a *little bit* crazy, but their energy is unmatched! both of them know exactly what they want in life, and do whatever they can to achieve it. also, they both have impeccable taste in style. while they do have similar traits, they are still COMPLETELY different characters tho!

jo yiseo stands out to me because of how unapologetic she is about everything, and how far she’s willing to go for the people that she loves. unpopular opinion, i was actually rooting for the second FL in itaewon class, but i LOVED yiseo more— when she blocked that one kiss in some episode, my jaw DROPPED and i started laughing.

seo yeji is the most beautiful woman i’ve ever seen. like i wasn’t sure if i was crushing on her or KSH’s character harder LOL (but between y’all and me, it was definitely her tho) i started IOTNBO for KSH, but was so drawn by KMY’s character by the first episode… her backstory and expressions with JUST HER EYES are incredible.

i long for the day i can be as strong as these women… until then, i will just look for a leather jacket and try doing my eye makeup like KMY’s T_T . however, according to my friends, i already have my RBF down -_-

also, i totally did not buy a pair of sunglasses that looks like jo yiseo’s just bc of a drama… *looks away*

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SORRY I FORGOT ABT YESTERDAY!!
day 1: ML i will never forget (2020)
well, if it’s a drama from 2020, i guess oppa doesn’t count *@turtuallysarcastic hmph*, but there are so many other leads i loved! and this guy happens to just be my second-fave male character anyway ◡̈

the winner is park saeroyi from itaewon class (played by park seojun)! i think everyone’s seen a park seojun drama by now, but if you haven’t watched itaewon class, PLEASE DO. park saeroyi is incredible— he has so much grit and determination, and there’s so much sadness in his life, but it’s so inspiring to see him push through it all. my heart kinda soars when i think of park saeroyi, not like in a romantic way, but i’m almost like proud of him.

the other dramas i’ve seen w PSJ are rom-coms, and his role is usually pretty funny or i guess cute-ish?? which i do like, but to me, park saeroyi is now his defining role. the character is very stoic and quiet, when he’s angry or sad, it’s executed so well!!! there’s a scene in ep 15 where the character starts crying, and i didn’t even realize i was crying at the same time— i just think i felt his sadness so much (idk if that makes sense but it’s fine) i can’t really put it into words how much i love this ML.

tldr; park saeroyi, itaewon class <3 thank you for such an incredible character

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ep 6 r88
when i’ve “rewatched “ r88 eps in the past, i really just look at the most memorable scenes, which mostly consist of our ssangmundong squad, but watching these full episodes has made me REALLY fall in love with the family dynamic. i loved the families when i first watched the show, but as i continue this rewatch, my love only increases! the original OSTS add so much to the show as well. bora driving her car was HILARIOUS, i actually laughed out loud— first with the family thinking she ran over a dog, then with noeul cry-singing in the car, and THEN when she sang her protestor anthem with kim sun young with her LOLOL! jungbong with his cabbage patch kid is also another noteworthy moment ◡̈

jealous junghwan is EXCELLENT of course, and while everyone knows who my heart belongs to, i will say that i can’t help smiling when i see taek ! i also did not realize how few lines he really had, i think his character gets some more noteworthy moments from ep 6 onwards, especially after ep 10. and of course, there’s nothing like seeing the gang together!

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seokjin making haha’s son cry is SO FUNNY (of course i felt bad for dream, poor kid) but the fact that it was JSJ LMAOOO he keeps his betrayal role even when he’s not in running man 😭

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oh how i love kwangsoo XD but seriously, jihyo looks gorgeous in her outfit!

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    Laughed so much this whole episode!
    Lee Ji-ah: Running Man is worse than Penthouse. ><

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    She does. I’m surprised the look works on her!

    Also, Eugene’s strength, Ha Do Kwon’s “revenge”, Kim Seo Yeon being a defeatist, and Lee Ji Ah’s what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here face made me LOL!

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      The ladies gave our pretty Ace quite a fight!

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      lee jiah the whole time was so funny– in the intro she was nervous bc she never did a variety show and by the end XD i’m watching her in MA right now, so i don’t like her character in the show, but from this RM ep, i love her!

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        When Kang-soo mentioned she got ready for the tickle challenge by placing her fingers properly on the flute , I just died! Lee Ji-ah should really be in more variety.

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    I adore them!!!

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friendly reminder about how much i love junghwan ◡̈ even though i’ve seen these scenes abt 20 times, idk man he’s just my favorite ever

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    lol.. him and reply 1988.. the first thing that pops up in my head every single time is that he got the girl finally 😀

    such a fantastic wholesome series.. each character, storyline.. every country has gone through this phase.. some before the others

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      ABSOLUTELY!! the behind the scenes clips and the tv10 award show with him and hyeri together are just perfection *chef’s kiss*

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        lol the aware show where she was blushing and repeatedly referring/addressing bo gum as her hubby (on the telecall.. on the screen ..)

        all of them truly became a good friend..

        this PD and his team must be so amazing. All their shows and cast become good friends. And, by extension i would say Na PD is awesome because all of these crew members are his juniors.. he trained them well..very very well

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      “every country has gone through this phase” – word!!

      This is the exact reason why R1988 is the best of the Reply series – the universality of that journey you recognize right way no matter which country you come from. It speaks to us of a past we went through and treasured.

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    Were you on the other ship, Shachi???

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    That last image posted of them in the bus is pretty much the most iconic scene of that entire series for me.

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      i can’t choose between iconic scenes– it could be that one, the sobangcha dance, them dancing to “to you”, or them cheering up taek… either way, junghwan’s in all of them LMAO

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    Meow!

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ep 3 r88: this peppermint candy easter egg totally went over my head! also, they mentioned the table sliding down in this ep too! i wonder how i never noticed it building up in previous eps @turtuallysarcastic @mrsz6 @midnightramyeon

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i watched ep 2 of r88 saturday night and something that i really liked is that there are still easter eggs and small hints that are fun to find! the screen cap shows noeul sliding towards one side of the room in his sleep, which i think foreshadows how in ep 11 the sung family finds out that their floor is slanted, which is SO CLEVER— i don’t think anyone would’ve noticed this the first time, or at least i know i didn’t. may keep a list of easter eggs i see in the show! @turtuallysarcastic

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    Comment was deleted

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    ps. shoutout to @mrsz6 and @midnightramyeon and ayan (adfsgdh i can’t find their tag) for the fun rewatch of ep 1 on friday! i don’t know if we will be able to schedule all the other episodes to watch together (or at least the ones before jan 1), but it was really fun to have a watch party w you guys ◡̈

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    That is amazing! While the slanted floor plotline made sense to me, I found it weird that it was randomly introduced to enforce the cohabiting hi-jinks, because the Reply writer is too skilled to resort to such basic tricks. Turns out it was not random at all! 😀

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today marks five years since the first episode of reply 1988 was released!! i’m pretty sure i’ve talked abt this show every single day i’ve commented on DB, no regrets, it is my absolute favorite show. (also ps, my username here is sung shachi, but you guys can call me shachi, the sung part is the last name of all the reply leads!! 😉 )

to be honest, i only finished the show in jan of this year, but i did finish it in a week while school was going on and it IS 32 hours of television, so i feel like that is quite commendable, and with the amount of times i’ve replayed episodes and clips, i think i’ve seen it about two times (plus my rewatch starts today!) there’s so much the show means to me, and here’s why it matters so much: (in this essay i will…)

(spoilers below)

the winter months of junior year were probably the hardest for me, not only were they stressful, but they were also super clique-y, so basically, i was having a rough time. i remember that i found the first two eps of the show slightly boring bc i wasn’t used to such long episode times, but the sobangcha dance at ep 3 intrigued me, so i continued to watch it, and loved it. there are a BUNCH of sad scenes in the show or moments that pull at your heart, but i remember not being able to stop crying at the end of the show. it really felt like i’d grown up with the ssangmundong neighborhood, and i couldn’t bear to let go of my friends. i had to rewatch clips the next day to make myself feel better.

i think part of the magic of the show is also the fact that the cast all still loves each other— they hung out in june, oppa and LDH have been hanging out recently, hyeri is still friends with all the guys and still dating oppa (HEEHEE), just everyone is close w everyone and i love it so much! also i think part of my broken heart for junghwan was healed bc oppa and hyeri are dating (and i have rewatched all their scenes together to look for signs of them liking each other adsfgh).

the show is also so relatable and down to earth, i didn’t know any of the actors (or even that hyeri was in girl’s day) before i started watching, and i remember liking the fact that hyeri wasn’t your typical super beautiful kdrama lead— she is beautiful! but i loved how her role involved her to make funny faces and just act wild, it was prob the first drama i’d seen to really let loose. i think the plotlines are also very realistic, for example, bora and appa’s relationship, ra miran and junghwan, and deoksun in general— she is my favorite female lead because of the heart she had, and i really cried with her when she realized she didn’t know what she wanted to do or that she wasn’t smart enough, because by watching the show i knew that she was an amazing person who deserved more.

and of course, junghwan. *takes deep breath*
a lot of people dislike r88 because of the way the husband hunt ended. as arguably one of junghwan’s biggest fans (or maybe even THE biggest fan, but it’s fine), i just wanted to say that there are multiple moments in the show that i can’t watch without crying, but i think ep 18 is the most difficult (besides ep 20). i started crying from the beginning when he just missed her while driving, cried more when he was too late, sobbed when he cried in his car, couldn’t stop crying when he drove deoksun while listening to lee moon sae’s “as love passes by”, and from there on out i practically dissolved in my own tears. i had to pause during the flashback at the end because i was crying so hard that i couldn’t see the screen anymore T_T

and yet, i’ve come to terms with the fact that he isn’t the husband. if i was the lead, i would have chosen him. but deoksun never saw that side of JH that we did. whenever taek had a chance, he took it, but junghwan hesitated to be a good friend, which honestly, makes me love him more. i also think that part of me is ok with this bc oppa and hyeri are dating LMAO but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the romance is still my favorite— junghwan’s silence and constant hesitation (and the fact that he never actually said he liked her until 18 but WE KNEW THE WHOLE TIME) is so relatable to my life, but i’m sure to other people as well. it reminds me of people i was too shy to say i felt some way about until i couldn’t anymore, and unreciprocated love due to that is a practically universal theme.

and now when i watch ep 1, (and when i will watch it later tn), i realize how much the show has taught me about the year 1988 in korea and just korea in the 80s— which is FASCINATING, i could probably write another book on that. it may sound corny to say, but my obsession with this show has changed my life. i know it has every time i do something embarrassing and i can practically hear the goat noises in my head. i know it has when the song “empty heart” by lee seung hwan (or any song from the show— i still listen to the playlist today) brings tears to my eyes as it brings up memories from the show, but also reminds me of things from the past. and i know that it has when i see a picture of the actors, or just the words “sajang” (as in aigoo, kim sajang!) , “noeul” or “bora”, and immediately smile— to paraphrase deoksunnie, it reminds me of a show so warm, that i miss so much.

to reply 1988 (응답하라 1988), thank you so much for everything, for making me so happy. 사랑합니다

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    omg i wrote so much asfdghj

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    It’s my favourite of the reply series and is in the top 5 of my most favourite drama 😊

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    These days I’m rewatching Reply 1994 which is my absolute favorite but your post made me feel like I need to rewatch 1988 too. I’m gonna cry againnnn..

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    Reply 88 is also one of my favorite of the Reply series. I love the characters and I love the relationships.

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    One of my favorites of all time; I’m not a crier when it comes to TV or films, but this is one of the only two I’ve cried at (and the other was rage tears because of how bad the writing crashed and burned). At the very end as the camera sweeps through the old neighborhood, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a visit to my childhood (I would have been about the age of Jin-ju).

    For me, the scene that is seared into my mind is the bus, when Jung-hwan kind of nonchalantly uses himself to keep Deok-sun stable and safe on the bus ride. You can tell she’s a bit bewildered, and his arms are straining as he plays it off like a big whatever in a herculean effort to not show even a glimmer of his feelings. The whole scene was sweet and awkward and innocent, and it was the start of my heartbreak for Jung-hwan. His confession was the most heart-rending confession I’ve ever seen in a k-drama.

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      that was such a good analysis of the scene!! i love that scene and also the one in ep 3 when junghwan and deoksun are in the alleyway together. a lot of people find the scene super embarrassing bc they’re literally *um* right next to each other.

      but i think the writing of that is so amazing– many other writers and dramas would have made it a kiss scene or something else, whereas r88 played it as a scene where they get super awkward and then try to separate from each other, which i think would be more likely to happen if you’re 18 and with your childhood friend instead of a sudden kiss. i knew junghwan liked her at the end of the scene when it shows him listening to music and you see his eyes open and reflect upon something. it’s perfectly nuanced, and that’s when i fell for him then.

      the confession was just… my heart completely shattered when it was over and the friends are like “omg it was a joke” and then the bells of the door ring and deoksun turns, still waiting for taek, even after junghwan told her he loved her. and right then, the song “empty heart” by lee seung hwan plays, and the camera pans back to junghwan, who has tears in his eyes and he’s looking at deoksun looking at the door– he knew he wasn’t the one then. just that one moment of deoksun turning crushes me, in my mind i was like “… she’s still hoping for someone else”. and then, waterworks T_T

      but this is why i love reply 1988. each action, each movement of the eyes is so perfectly choreographed and orchestrated, or maybe even not, maybe it was the actors’ own genius! either way, it makes the show so realistic and makes the viewers so invested in the plot.

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    My fave of all time 💕💕 💕

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    Hooray!!!

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    Keep writing, love it!

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everyone’s reaction to the choir I’M DYING 😭
but seriously, (as a choir kid myself) the chorus did such a good job with this song!! i’m gonna try and find the alto part for “heartbeat” by 2PM now heh

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    Wonderfull, they did an amazing job!!
    I want to sing along too

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of course, creds to ailee, despite all the covers i’ve heard today, i think the original is simply the best– i don’t even have words. the fact that i haven’t finished the show and am moved by this song says a lot about her <3

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so i’ve been listening to this song all day (i haven’t even gotten past the 2nd ep of goblin yet) but the song itself is so powerful!!and i just stumbled upon lee sun hee’s cover. i think i do prefer ailee’s version in terms of the show and the song, but lee sun hee’s voice just takes my breath away— what i would give to have a voice as powerful as that!!

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once again, running man on mondays never fails to make me laugh– i really don’t know WHY kwangsoo and jaeseok laughing at KJK was so funny, but i cracked up and replayed that scene about three times

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@turtuallysarcastic @midnightramyeon last bts r88 post of the night– why is lee dong hwi EXACTLY THE SAME AS DONGRYONG HAHAHA
ps. watch for his excellent lee sun kyun impression i’m DYING

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this clip is also comedic GOLD (poor junyeol oppa HAHA) – ahn jae hong reminds me SO MUCH of jungbong here and go kyung pyo’s laugh just makes me smile

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this may be common knowledge but similar to his character in reply 1988, park bogum’s mother died when he was very young 🥺 he really is taek — this is his audition tape

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@mindy cannot decide which of the two is more catlike 😆😆😆 *BTIMFL ep 7*

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    He especially reminded me of a cat in Dal-ja’s Spring~ this gif:

    And when he would jump over Kim Jae-wook’s store’s table 🤭

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and i just remembered LEE MIN-KI was the one who faced off against kim jong kook in that FAMOUS round dangyeonhaji on x-man for yoon eun hye! i think i’ve fallen down a lee min-ki rabbit hole 😀 ps. does anyone know where i can watch this x-man episode with subs?

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    LOL. Yes, those eps of X-Man were legendary, and oh so cringey. Not sure if this ep is available in full anywhere. Nothing is more embarrassing, though, than when they made him sing to her 😂 I think I have a gfycat of that somewhere… Ah, yes:

    https://gfycat.com/quarrelsomeinconsequentialindianrhinoceros

    Poor Min-ki still gets teased about his apparent crush on Yoon Eun-hye back then to this day, LOL. He has said he doesn’t feel comfortable on variety (which explains why he never does it) and I wonder if this is one of the reasons… 😂

    On a related note, if you’re interested, I have a YouTube playlist of all behind the scenes and blooper type clips from Min-ki’s projects!! It’s the best pick-me-up when I feel down, hehe. Sadly, OCN recently made all of the Lies Within BTS clips unavailable in my country 😭 Which is so sad because he seemed so infectiously happy while filming it and I loved watching them. Good thing I made plenty of gifs. He’s a pretty chill and reserved person but so drily funny and witty and giggly when he’s in his element.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRF4SN9O8QjIkZSnc-RcXKQiR1kY-GB3s

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    This is still one of the funniest things i’ve seen on a variety show! 😭

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    Ohhhh btw, shachi!! Did you know there is an (unofficial) Dramabeans Discord server? Lots of us chat there every day, about dramas or kpop or life or whatever, and I think you might enjoy it! ^^ It’s a nice, more fast and casual type of way to interact with Beanies! Here’s an invite link if you want to check it out!

    https://discord.gg/FTpvzV

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I KNEW lee min-ki played the younger version of miso’s father in what’s wrong with secretary kim, i just didn’t realize that jung so-min was his wife 🥺🥺🥺 this scene is even more cute now that i’m watching because this is my first life i just love these actors together and i’m so happy :-))

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    also the beauty inside was on my watchlist because i liked the movie and for lee dahee, but i’m even more excited because i didn’t realize he was the LEAD AAAAHHH

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      I um COUGH COUGH do not exactly recommend Beauty Inside. I…. Really hated it LOL but I recognize many people liked it as well so my opinion isn’t law, of course. But I would recommend pretty much every other drama of his before suggesting that one 😂

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        ooh, i might hold off on that one then. i’m just obsessed with this man now so i’m trying not to binge stuff of his but failing T_T

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          I should note that while I am a fan, I consider myself to be an objective and even critical fan, LOL. So I think I judged his performance and character in Beauty Inside more harshly than most people! I really want him and Seo Hyun-jin to do something else together because I really do think they work well together. The middle portion of the drama actually was pretty enjoyable to me (after his character lobotomy, before dumb noble idiocy, LOL), and the kiss scenes are fire.

          But YAY~~~ Besides BTLIOF my favorites among his dramas and movies are Dal-ja’s Spring, Spellbound, and Shut Up: Flower Boy Band. I think his best performance was in The Lies Within even though the drama itself was mediocre, I thought it was worth the watch just for him.

          Shoot Me in the Heart and Very Ordinary Couple were critically acclaimed but not my personal faves. But he’s fantastic in both. Monster is weird AF but he’s totally chilling as a serial killer.

          Quick is a HILARIOUS action parody that I think made me laugh harder than any other movie I’ve ever watched. It’s one of those movies that is intentionally bad and spoof-y and ridiculous and it just goes all in. Watching with friends (even virtually) makes it even funnier.

          I love I Really Really Like You way more than I should. I actually hated his character in the beginning (he’s obnoxious and immature) and dropped it when I first watched it a couple years ago but I came back to it last year. He actually gets great character development and I loved him by the middle (it’s a weekender so it’s 34 eps), and he and Eugene are SO cute together. But it’s also the only drama I’ve used the fast-forward button for 😂 The side characters can be annoying, like most weekenders.

          Taereung National Village is a cute short drama, and I liked the film Oishii Man even though most people think it’s boring. 😛 Mixed-up Investigative Agency is a cult favorite that is unlike any other drama I’ve watched. Min-ki’s character is purposefully SO unattractive (they really tried hard to make him ugly lol) and I love that he chose this role right after playing heartthrob noona killer Kang Tae-bong in Dal-ja’s Spring lol. It’s a fun, zany ensemble adventure show.

          What I love about him most as an actor is that he never plays the same character twice. He’s so versatile and really makes his characters his own with his offbeat charm, even in his everyman roles.

          And this got SO LONG I’M SO SORRY.

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            OH MY GOD DON’T APOLOGIZE I LOVE THIS!! you can really tell how invested you are in him it makes me so happy! i may do mixed-up investigative agency, it sounds like my type of watch. i will definitely keep these on my list 😉

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            mindy, how come you didn’t mention his finest work, a million?? XD

            oh but rereading this was so nice, thank you <3

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    I didn’t watch the Secretary drama, only that scene 🤭 It was worth it.

    Randomly tagging @mindy

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      I was so confused when I clicked this notification because when I saw “Secretary drama” I thought you were referring to The Secret Life of My Secretary, and I was like “Why is Toki tagging me in a post about a drama I’ve never seen before…?” 😂

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